Hopvine Brewing Company — Restaurant in Aurora

The brewery has been on my radar so we decided to stop in on a Saturday for lunch. Located just west of the Fox Valley Mall.

We arrived around 1230pm and no one was at the hostess stand to greet us. As a matter of fact we saw no servers or bartender and there was only 2 people sitting at the bar. This seemed on but we walked around looking at their beer list and seated ourselves.

The interior is beautiful with lots of spacing between the tables and hi tops. The bar area is huge. Unfortunately this is about the only good thing we experienced.

The hostess brought us the beer,drink,specials and everyday menu and while my wife was not even seated yet,the server asked us what we wanted to drink. Why the rush? We told her to come back so we could look at the various drink and beer options.

My wife is Gluten Free so we asked her what she would suggest for a beverage..she had no clue. My wife had a cider and I tried 3 tastings of beer ...To The Top creme ale which was very light...Lag R Me a lager which was very hoppy and their EHD Brown ale which confused me because it was very light for a brown ale - see pic. None of them were outstanding in my opinion.

They did have a few food items marked GF so we decided to try their chili which was a daily special and their Hopvine nachos. We waited over 25 minutes with no explanation on why as we noticed another person asked "why the wait" as she had an appointment.

The chili was flavorful but all liquid. Only got about 3 spoonfuls. The nachos were basically melted cheese and frozen grilled chicken from a bag. No flavor,very little toppings and could not taste any beer cheese. All the nachos underneath were basically just chips.

We mentioned it to the server Emily and she just took our plates away without saying anything. At the same time the other patron having lunch finally got her entree ,took one bite and left. Said it was not worth even taking home!

The hostess came by and we explained what was wrong but she wasn't listening.

When she brought back the bill she said she wanted to give us $5.00 off on our next visit but we had to spend $35.00..really?

We normally never complain about what we order but this time waiting over 25 minutes for mediocre food ,paying $40.00 with no apology was not a good experience.

Needless to say,we will...

Went on a Wednesday and they had $2 beers. Impossible to best that deal, especially when it includes just about every beer they brew, not just the light ones.

I was able to try the Historic IPA, Saison, Sour, and APA. (Sorry forgot the names) Each was fantastic. None were standout for their style, but each was very good. By far one of the cheapest beers in Naperville/Aurora.

The food was good as well. I had a Cuban sandwich and split a sample plater. The house made pickles were great on the sandwich and fried. Great smoked wings, but the jalapeno corn fritters were the best.

Met the owner Doug and he was such a nice person. Came to our table a few times to clear plates and ask if we needed anything. That's the kind of service I look for.

Only thing they could have done to earn the extra star? Quicker bar service. The food came fast, but the place wasn't busy when we were in and it still took an above average amount of time to get our drinks. The main courses could use some adjustments with the ratios of meat to sauce to bread, but the flavors were there.

For sure a new favorite spot in the area, especially when we want to avoid the overcrowding in...

While the beers we had were good, and the food was delicious, with the exception of the very tasteless cloeslaw, I will not be returning. Our waitress Kyra checked on us after a few bites, and then nothing. We sat there for an hour after finishing our meal and not a single person checked on us, not even the bartender who could clearly see us. We were the only table other then the person at the bar. I had so much bored time that I was able to make an impressive castle with our leftover crumbs (flag and moat included) and made a delightful decoration using pepper and ketchup. Yes, I was that bored. I am a former waitress and I understand when things get busy, but there may have been 2 other tables in the dining area, but she would walk to the bar, we were visible from there, or to the front door but never to us. We finally had to get the bartender to print our check..... No one checked on us even after that, I was so disappointed I almost walked out. And if we did, Kyra probably wouldn't have even noticed. Train your staff to...